Jean-Jacques Annaud’s Black Gold is a film I’ve been waiting for for a long time. As you probably know, I have a serious Mark Strong jones  and those of us that do are so used to only getting snippets of him in any given film. When he takes a starring role, we get understandably excited. It was way back in mid October that we finally got the first English language trailer (with the voice!) but then…pfffft…nothing. It was supposed to open in the US in December and obviously that didn’t happen. It is, however, set to open in the UK in February, so we now have a UK trailer to share.

 The film is set in what is now known as Saudi Arabia during the 1930's at the beginning of the oil boom. It centers on young Arab Prince Auda (Tahar Rahim, A Prophet) torn between his conservative father (Mark Strong) and his modern, liberal father-in-law (Antonio Banderas). Frieda Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire, Rise of the Planet of the Apes) costars as Auda's wife, Princess Lallah. 

 Synopsis: Under the unforgiving desert sky, two warring leaders come face to face. The bodies of their warriors litter the battlefield. The victorious Nesib, Emir of Hobeika (Banderas), lays down his peace terms to his rival Amar, Sultan of Salmaah (Strong). The two men agree that neither may lay claim to the area of no man’s land between them called The Yellow Belt. In return and according to the tribal customs of the time, Nesib will “adopt”- or take hostage- Amar’s two boys Saleeh (Akin Gazi) and Auda (Rahim); a guarantee that neither man can invade the other. Years later, Saleeh and Auda have grown into young men. Saleeh, the warrior, itches to escape his gilded cage and return to his father’s land. Auda cares only for books and the pursuit of knowledge. One day, their adopted father Nesib is visited by an American oil man from Texas (Corey Johnson). He tells the Emir that his land is blessed with oil and promises him riches beyond his imagination.

With a screenplay by Menno Meyjes (The Color Purple, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, A Matador's Mistress), Black Gold is based on Hans Ruesch's "The Great Thirst" (alternate title "The Arab") and is Annaud's (The Name of the Rose, Seven Years in Tibet, Enemy at the Gates) first film since 2007's His Majesty Minor with Vincent Cassel. Black Gold opened the Doha Tribeca Film Festival in Qatar and opens in the UK on 24^th February. Hopefully a US date will soon follow!

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